Eighteen miles from Asheville, in the Balsam Range, is Mount Pisgah, 5,757 feet high, from the apex of which a wonderful expanse of mountain scenery is spread out to view; but it is from the Blue Ridge peaks that the sublimest visions are presented, and the most curious forms of nature-sculpturing occur. Passing southwest from Asheville, the Asheville and Spartanburg Road runs through an exceedingly fertile region, and thence into the Cañon of Little River, where for four miles the stream is a succession of surging rapids, noisy cascades, and picturesque waterfalls, until it approaches the base of tremendous cliffs. These are spurs of the Blue Ridge, one of which is famous as presenting a facial profile which has been named “Cæsar’s Head,” but it takes a person of vivid imagination to distinguish the human features, very plain though the guide declares them to be. As the altitude is nearly 6,000 feet, and 2,000 feet above the valley, the prospect of the peak of this Blue Ridge spur is incomparably magnificent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: LITTLE RIVER RAPIDS, NORTH CAROLINA.—At this point the river flashes over a sloping ledge of rocks and boulders with irresistible power and a roar like that of thunder. At all seasons of the year the scene is splendid and inspiring, but when the river is swollen with the spring floods and the waters come with a mighty and irresistible flood, dashing over the rocks and carrying away trees and boulders with titanic force and rage, the view is awe-inspiring and grand beyond the power of human pen to describe. ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Illustration: THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT MITCHELL, NORTH CAROLINA.]